


Sing

by SweetbunThorn



Category: Persona 5
Genre: I just REALLY wanted Ryuji to sing this okay, M/M, Song fic, Spawned cause of a song in Sing, Thanks to my peeps in the discord for fueling this even further
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-08
Updated: 2017-08-08
Packaged: 2018-12-12 19:16:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11743443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SweetbunThorn/pseuds/SweetbunThorn
Summary: Akira stares at his boyfriend over the rim of his glasses. “Have you not heard yourself sing?”





	Sing

**Author's Note:**

> I'm a mess, I'm not sure if that's a surprise at this point. 
> 
> Inspired by this song: [ I'm Still Standing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYCOA2jQ-XA)

**_Talent Show_ **   
**xx:xx**   
**10/25**   
**Winner receives a 45,000 yen gift card to Ogikubo**

Akira read the paper pinned to the bulletin board. It stood out greatly against the various white papers with its bright yellow parchment.

“Why did you stop?” Morgana poked his head out of the bag and stared at the flier. “Talent Show?”

“Yeah.”

“Plan on entering?”

“No.”

Akira took a few steps, paused, and makes a quick backtrack to the flier. With a quick flourish, he signs a name and continues on his way. School goes by quickly and Akira’s halfway to the station as he hears the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps. The raven turns to just in time to have the Talent Show flier thrust into his face.

“Dude.” Comes Ryuji’s angry sounding growl. “What the hell is this about?”

“What about it?” Akira moves his head past the paper to stare at the enraged blond.

“Ya know what the eff this is about!” Ryuji’s elevated voice catches a few stares.

“Calm down.” The fuzzy haired leader gently pushes down the blond’s shaking hand.

“How can I be calm about this? You signed me up for a Talent Show.” Ryuji throws up his hands. “I ain’t got a talent!”

Akira stares at his boyfriend over the rim of his glasses. “Have you not heard yourself sing?”

The zio user clams up and his brown eyes shift to the side, a faint blush rising on his cheeks. Lately Ryuji would sing whenever he and Akira laid in bed after a tough trip to Mementos or on a rainy night. Akira always made comments about how amazing the blond’s singing was, but his boyfriend refused to believe him.

“But-“

“You have such a great voice and I can help you practice.” Akira says with a warm smile.

The blond lets out a deep sigh, “Fine… but ya owe me for this.”

Akira gave a smile and leaned forward to give the zio user a kiss. “Anything you choose.”

* * *

“I would normally speak against this, but if it’s to help Ryuji…” Makoto trailed off as she opened the doors to the auditorium.

The rest of the phantom thieves follow her into the darken room before the senior flips the light switch, illuminating the large open space. Ryuji stands before the stage with Akira at his right; the blond is wringing his hands as he stares at the elevated platform. The raven quietly ushers him to the stage and Ryuji looks like he’s about to run. Eventually the fuzzy haired leader gets him to stand before the others, but the blond’s stands rooted to the spot, brown eyes trained only on his boyfriend.

“He appears to be troubled.” Yusuke speaks up from his spot on the floor.

“He has stage fright.” Ann answers. “You should’ve seen him whenever we had a school play. He clams up or he starts stuttering.” She sighs as Akira starts to coax the other blond. ”It looks like he never got over it.”

Ryuji shakes his head at whatever Akira said.

“If he messes up that badly, I can always trip the alarms.” Futaba mutters out while holding up her phone.

“Please don’t.” Makoto replies, giving the long haired ginger a look.

Ryuji takes a step back and shakes his head again; Ann shoots to her feet and raises her arm.

“Maybe we could blindfold him!”

Akira turns his head towards the curly haired blonde. “Good idea.”

Ann beamed. “Now we just need a blindfold.”

The raven held up a red bandanna.

“Why do you…” the agi user shook her head as she sat down. “I don’t want to know.”

Akira slips the blindfold around the blond’s head before trying it tight enough to where it won’t slip down.

“Can you see anything?”

“No.” Ryuji lets out a shaky breath.

Akira gives Haru a nod and she starts up the stereo. Soft music plays from the box, gently filling the air around the thieves.

Ryuji’s shaking increases. “Akira, I can’t-“

Akira immediately wraps the blond in a tight embrace. “Just close your eyes and imagine you’re laying across my lap and we’re listening to the radio.”

Ryuji takes a few more deep breathes before opening his mouth.

_I-I'm a shape s-shifter_

_At Poe's masquerade_

_H-hiding both face and mind_

_All free for you to draw_

Ryuji’s poster became more relaxed and Akira backed up, sensing the worse of the stage fright passing.

_I'm a shape shifter_

_Chained down to my core_

_Please don't take off my mask_

_My place to hide_

Ann makes a happy sounding noise and Akira motions for her to keep quiet. The agi user quickly shuts up, but a large smile has found its way onto her face.

_I can't tell you_

_How to see me_

_Just a cage of bones_

_There's nothing inside_

_Will it unleash me?_

_Burning down the walls_

_Is there a way_

_For me to break?_

By now, the rest of thieves were staring at Ryuji with amazement in their eyes, even Morgana had shut up, blue eyes staring intensely at the singing vulgar teen.

_I'm a shape shifter_

_At Poe's masquerade_

_Hiding both face and mind_

_All free for you to draw_

_I'm a shape shifter_

_Have no face to show_

_Please don't take off my mask_

_My disguise_

The song finishes and Ryuji takes off the blindfold, meeting the shocked faces of his friends. “Uh-” His response is cut off as Akira wraps his arms around him and kisses him.

“Ugh, no one wants to see you guys get all mushy with each other, Akira!” Futaba complains with a cross of her arms and a smile on her face.

“You did so well, Ryuji!” Ann cheers.

“That was astounding, Ryuji.” Yusuke claps, a small smile was on his face.

The thieves go around, each of them giving the blond praise and flustering him either further.

“T-Thanks.” He rubs the back of his head.

“But your rang of voice doesn’t actually match the tone of the song.” Ann hummed with a tilt of her head. “I got it! You have to sing something with an upbeat to it.” Ann suggests.

Haru flips though the assortment of songs on her phone. “How about…this?” She turns the phone around to show the others her choice. “I’m Still Standing.”

“Learnin’ a new song is four days?” Ryuji looks over at the stage. “I don’t think I can learn somethin’ new so quick.”

“We’ll be behind you  a hundred percent of the way.” Akira grasps the blond’s hands. “Right guys?”

The others give various degrees of answers and Ryuji can feel the pressure on his shoulders crumbling.

“If you mess up, it’s Revenge of the Alarms.”

“Futaba.”

* * *

The day of the festival vastly approaches and on the day of the Talent Show, Ryuji’s nowhere to be seen. As the thieves look all over for the blond, Akira gets a text just as he finishes checking out the second year rooms with Yusuke.

 _ **Best Boy:** I_  
  
_**Best Boy:** I_  
  
_**Best Boy:** I can’t do this_  
  
_**Best Boy:** I changed my mind_  
  
_Ryuji, you can’t give up. After all the work you put into this and how much time the others and I spent helping you._  
  
_**Best Boy:** I know!_  
  
_**Best Boy:** I…Can you come get me?_  
  
_**Best Boy:** Maybe I just need a pep talk._  
  
_Where are you?_  
  
_**Best Boy:** Bathroom, 1 st floor._

Akira makes a beeline for the stares with a quiet Yusuke following behind. The pair reach the restroom and Akira pokes his head in, gray eyes scanning around before spotting Ryuji curled up beneath the windowsill. The blond’s sleeveless purple jacket stands out greatly against the off white coloring of the walls. His shades and necklaces lay discarded on the sink counter; Akira could faintly make out the drops of water on them. The blond’s white pants looked soaked in some places like he had dried his hands in his pants. Ryuji wrung out the red bandanna as his head sat on his knees.

“This was a bad idea.” He mutters as the raven approaches him. “I can’t believe I let you talk me into this.”

Akira feels a stab of regret as Yusuke steps forward.

“Imagine the student body being amazed by your performance!”

Ryuji looks up at the taller teen. “Or they’ll laugh at me.”

“Failure can be an excellent source of inspiration!”

The blond groans and hides himself further into his body.

 “Yusuke.” Akira groans. “You made it worse.”

“I was simply stating a correct fact. Some of the greatest pieces of art were born from failure during their lifetime.”

“Yusuke.” The raven sighs and looks towards his boyfriend. There was no way they could convince him now.

“I might look like a cat, but even I know how to grow a pair.”

Akira’s head snaps towards where Morgan had poked his head out of the bag. Ryuji’s head jerks up, brown eyes narrowed on the cat as he growls.

“What was that, ya stupid cat?!”

“You heard me! Grow and pair and man up!” Morgana jerks his head towards the door. “Go and get what you practiced for! Or are you too much of a pussy?”

Ryuji shoots to his feet. “I’ll show you who the pussy is!”

Akira watches as Ryuji runs out of the room before settling a disapproving stare at the bicolored feline. “I disapprove of how you did it, but thank you.”

Morgana lets out a purr as the raven grabs the discarded necklaces and shades before grabbing the bag and following after Ryuji with Yusuke tailing behind.

“You can thank me with some sushi! Namely some Fatty Tuna.” Morgana smiles before ducking back into the bag.

By the time Akira and Yusuke return to the auditorium, the MC had called Ryuji’s name. The blond quietly makes his way to the center stage, Akira wishes he could adore Ryuji in the costume as harsh words starts filtering out of the students.

“Sakamoto?”

“He can sing?”

“This will be great laugh.”

“Dude, I’m so recording this. YouTube is going to love this!”

“I thought his only talent was being violent.”

Akira’s hands curl into fists as he tries to steady his breathing. He misses what Makoto asks Yusuke as the music starts up, but Ryuji makes no move to sing as he stays rooted in his spot. Akira quickly pulls out his phone and makes his way to the front.

_Just look at me and you’ll do fine._

The raven watches as he zio user pulls out his phone and looks at the text before brown eyes flick over to where Akira stands in the front with his discarded necklaces and shades. The fuzzy haired leader gives him two thumbs up in response with a smile attached to it. Ryuji gives him a soft smile and takes a few deep breathes.

_You could never know what it's like_

_Your blood like winter freezes just like ice_

_And there's a cold lonely light that shines from you_

_You'll wind up like the wreck you hide behind that mask you use_

Ryuji’s voice starts out quiet before growing louder and more vibrant.

_And did you think this fool could never win?_

_Well look at me, I'm a-coming back again_

_I got a taste of love in a simple way_

_And if you need to know while I'm still standing you just fade away_

By the chorus, a smile has found its way on to the blond’s face as the student body stares in shock. Even Akira’s shocked as the blond throws in a few dance moves, fluid dance moves, flawless dance moves.

_And don't you know I'm still standing better than I ever did?_

_Looking like a true survivor, feeling like a little kid_

_And I'm still standing after all this time_

_Picking up the pieces of my life without you on my mind_

_I'm still standing (yeah, yeah, yeah)_

_I'm still standing (yeah, yeah, yeah)_

The music amps up and Akira can hear the sound of clapping from the students. The lights above change colors and move about almost as if they seem to dance along with the blond.

_Once I never could hope to win_

_You starting down the road leaving me again_

_The threats you made were meant to cut me down_

_And if our love was just a circus you'd be a clown by now_

Akira can even see some of the teachers dance along with the song. Gray eyes scan the darken room, catching the bright glowing screens of multiple phones. The raven smiles before directing his attention back to the dancing and singing blond.

_And know I'm still standing better than I ever did_

_Looking like a true survivor, feeling like a little kid_

_And I'm still standing after all this time_

_Picking up the pieces of my life without you on my mind_

_I'm still standing (yeah, yeah, yeah)_

_I'm still standing (yeah, yeah, yeah)_

Akira feels himself dance along with the music as a guitar solo cuts through the song. Seeing Ryuji move so much on stage causes the raven to worry, but it seems the zio user has it under control despite the stress the dance is giving his bad leg.

_Don't they know that I'm still standing better than I ever did?_

_Looking like a true survivor, feeling like a little kid_

_I'm still standing after all this time_

_Picking up the pieces of my life without you on my mind_

_I'm still standing (yeah, yeah, yeah)_

_I'm still standing (yeah, yeah, yeah)_

_I'm still standing (yeah, yeah, yeah)_

_I'm still standing (yeah, yeah, yeah)_

The song finishes and Ryuji stands there, panting and sweating as his eyes flicker out to the quiet audience. Akira starts clapping, large grin etched on his face. Near the middle row, the rest of the thieves stand up and clap, yelling out cheers. Eventually, the rest of the audience follows behind as Ryuji receives a standing ovation. Wide brown eyes look at them before landing on Akira, who makes a bowing motion in response. The blond repeats the gesture before moving off the stage. Akira follows after him backstage and wraps his arms tightly around the startled blond.

“I told you.” Akira smiles and kisses him despite the other performers watching nearby.

“Akira!”

“You make it seem like they don’t even know about us.”

“Yeah, but-“ The rest of Ryuji’s sentence is cut off as Akira pulls him into another kiss.

“How’s your leg?” Akira asks with concern in his voice.

“’S fine.” Ryuji rubbed at his thigh. “It hurts a bit, but not enough to keep me down.”

The raven smiles and pulls the blond in for another kiss.

* * *

The MC returns to the stage after the last performance, holding an envelope in his hands.

“You’ve all chosen your favorites and the winner is…” The MC opens the sleeve. “Ryuji Sakamoto!”

“What!?” Ryuji’s surprised yell is drowned out by the excited yells from the audience.

Akira practically shoves Ryuji on stage, a laughing smile on his face as the cheers get louder as the blond stumbles his way out from behind the curtain. The zio user rubs the back of his head and accepts the prize with a goofy grin stretched across his face. Ryuji takes the thieves out for ramen after the festival. All of them singing the song as Akira and Ryuji walked hand in hand.

**Author's Note:**

> *drowns self in Ryuji singing headcanons*


End file.
